WootBot

Happy Music Monday! Today, Scott's chosen a topic many don't associate with popular music: songs about God. After all, there are as many different ways to worship as there are people, so why can't some rock stars get in on it too? Here's a classic to start us off:

George had a reputation as the nicest Beatle, so it was pretty naturally he'd fall into religion. And, truthfully, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has met with some controversy over the years. But the idea behind this simple love song is as pure as any Sunday hymn, and much prettier than many. Ultimately, this is just one guy using his gifts to thank his God for everything He has done. You might not agree with the specifics, but you can certainly understand the reasoning.

We've got four more after the jump, and last week's Spotify playlist as well. Then we want YOU to add some tunes! Please remember, we're happy to see songs about all faiths represented in the comments, but we don't want anyone acting like a jerk. It's about sharing great music together, not scoring theology points. Okay? Okay. See you inside…

A very simple song that was written by a gospel group to specifically praise Jesus, then got adopted as a Top 40 standard by some non-religious musicians. I think this version still counts, though, because even if the Doobie Brothers weren't at church every Sunday, they're still making it clear: Jesus seems like he'd be a nice enough guy to hang out with. He was probably an all right kinda guy. And who can disagree with that sentiment, even if it comes from some guys named Doobie?

There's a solid message in this one, one that a lot of radio favorites don't consider. Despite the language, this song very intelligently says "You were made by a higher power with love, stop being a fool all the time, because it's disrespectful." Maybe that's a slightly more street version of "Do unto others…" but you've got to admit, it comes from the same place.

One of the earliest hits for these Irish Catholic rock stars, Gloria pulls the Latin praising God and turns it into a love song. Bono himself says it's simultaneously about a woman and about God, something that seems pretty clear in his delivery. Maybe this is the rock version of a Sufi prayer? Or maybe it's just a young man's hope after seeing a pretty girl in church.

I wish the Prince cover of this was online, because that's my personal favorite version, but the original's not to shabby either. Joan Osborne's song reminds us that God might be everywhere, and sort of implicit is the message that maybe we should be more polite to each other just in case.

We've only got room for five each week, so if we missed your favorite song/faith, don't feel left out! Instead, jump in the comments and add to our mediations. And please remember: we're all grown-ups and we're all friends. Then, afterwards, feel free to visit our Turntable.fm room for the regular Music Monday enjoyment. Also, let us just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use.

brcarthey

Depeche Mode's song, "Blasphemous Rumours," off their 1984 album "Some Great Reward," really helped a lot of angst-ridden teens who were going through turmoil in their own lives and seeing so many problems in society. They turned to music and songs like this one because it seemed to channel how they were feeling inside wondering why God was letting all these bad things happen. It certainly helped me (and still does occasionally) through some rough patches and don't feel it's disrespectful towards God at all, but simply questioning the crazy events that were happening all around us.

nemo2005

Bob Dylan-I Believe In You. Yeah, it's from his "Born Again" period, but still a nice simple and graceful ode about a believer having to live among those who could care less or are outright hostile.
XTC-Dear God...speaking of outright hostle, it's hard to top this little tune by Andy Partridge. I think it was done as a B-side originally, but became more popular than anything else on the Skylarking record and was subsequently included on it.

magoh

Slydon

adahm wrote:I love it! "Be nice to other people because they might be somebody in disguise who will punish you with hell for eternity, not because it's the decent thing to do."

That's not actually the meaning I was going for. To me, it's more like if you were enjoying a movie, and knew the director was sitting in front of you, you might want to pat him on the shoulder or say Wow, great job! And if you went into that movie thinking that the director was there in disguise, you might make the effort to be nice to everyone rather than offend someone who brought you such a good time.

To me, it's not a song about fear at all. It's just about respecting each other, because any one of us could be greater than we appear. Replace the word God with Superman, if it helps, and maybe you'll hear what I hear.

Hi, I'm one of the writers. My powers are limited but I'll do what I can.

dougall

strawhousepig

Slydon wrote:That's not actually the meaning I was going for. To me, it's more like if you were enjoying a movie, and knew the director was sitting in front of you, you might want to pat him on the shoulder or say Wow, great job! And if you went into that movie thinking that the director was there in disguise, you might make the effort to be nice to everyone rather than offend someone who brought you such a good time.

To me, it's not a song about fear at all. It's just about respecting each other, because any one of us could be greater than we appear. Replace the word God with Superman, if it helps, and maybe you'll hear what I hear.

But we *are* all greater than we appear. That should be enough. I also echo your last sentence.

mossygreen

Recently I've been watching a fair amount of Devo videos and find myself thinking: this is like being indoctrinated into the Church of the Sub-Genius, if it is not actually being indoctrinated into the Church of the Sub-Genius (I think it might be). There must be some group doing something similar for the FSM.

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